


in this world and the next

by basha



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Baby-Sitters Club Fusion, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - The Night Circus Fusion, Ben Hargreeves Lives, Codependency, Family Feels, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Multiverse, okay that's enough tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:21:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25159909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/basha/pseuds/basha
Summary: By combining their powers, best friends Vanya and Five access the multiverse. There is hand-holding, and dinners, and music; but most of all there is family, and there is friendship.(Or, a vehicle for me to explore a bunch of TUA AUs that have been popping into my brain.)
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Allison & Ben & Diego & Klaus & Luther & Vanya, Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	in this world and the next

**Author's Note:**

> So the big idea behind this fic was that I wanted to write snippets of different Umbrella Academy AUs, featuring my favorite pair best friends, Vanya and Five. I wanted them to be able to compare their new timelines with the prime timeline (as I ended up calling it), which also allowed me to use the different verses to make little hurt/comfort scenarios in which Five and Vanya can help the other confront their fears. I also wanted lots of family feels, so there’s plenty of that in every verse; I tried to give lots of sets of secondary relationships focus, though my bias shows through in the sheer amount of Five&Vanya& Ben. There is no explicit romance between any of the characters, though Vanya and Five can get pretty sappy. Longer notes on each individual AU (including any particular inspirations) below.

**prologue**

The first time Vanya played the violin in front of her whole family (at least that she remembers), she caused the apocalypse. Five’s frantic efforts to save them brought them all to the 60s, the start of their great journey towards averting the end times and trying to get along a little better. This time, as Vanya prepares to play for her family, they’re all hoping to get back to their original timeline, to start anew, one more time. (At least, that’s what the rest of their family wants; Vanya and Five have a secondary goal.) 

Five squeezes Vanya’s hand, letting his powers intermingle with hers. Then he squeezes his eyes shut. 

When he opens them, he finds that his entire world has been reduced to just him and Vanya, children again in their Umbrella Academy uniforms, floating in a huge white void. They’re surrounded by doorknobs, floating on strings of light. Soft violin music is playing. 

“Nice touch,” he tells Vanya. (He wonders whose idea it was for them both to be kids again. Probably his.) 

“I didn’t mean to,” Vanya says, wondrously. “This is incredible.” 

“Don’t sound so surprised. You and I have always worked well together.” He sounds smug, but he thinks he deserves it. He and his favorite person have accessed the multiverse. And now they get what everyone wants: another chance. 

“All these doors are different timelines?” 

“Yes. But remember what we talked about,” Five says. “We only want the timelines where all of us are together. Focus on it.” Vanya wrinkles her nose, as if to demonstrate how hard she’s concentrating. 

“Will it work if we think about other stuff, too?”

“What kind of stuff?” Vanya shrugs, but she clearly has answers ready. 

“My music. My powers. Good conversations. Good dinners. Being your best friend.” 

“You don’t need to include that last one,” Five says. “It’s an inevitability. 

Vanya’s answering smile is brighter than any he remembers. The music swells. 

And, like magic, dozens of doorknobs turn, and unseen doors open on untold possibilities… 

**assassin au**

As soon as Five has completed his training for the day, he goes to seek out Seven. 

He hasn’t seen her all day, which is setting him on edge. It’s clear she doesn’t feel as comfortable in this timeline as he does. In this universe, the seven of them have been taken in not by Reginald Hargreeves, but by the Commission. They’ve been raised by none other than Hazel himself, in a pocket out of time, to become perfect temporal assassins. It’s perfect, for Five: being an assassin comes easily to him, and he can do it now without the dreadful ache of missing his family.

Seven, however, hasn’t adjusted as well as he has. They went on their first mission, all seven of them, a few days ago; it went perfectly, but Seven’s been off ever since. 

She’s not in any of the first thirteen places he looks for her, and he’s just on the edge of worry when he finally finds her in the last place he expected: the shooting range. She’s got her headphones on, and the look of complete concentration on her face is the same one she typically only wears when she’s playing the violin. 

She sets her shoulders back and fires. The bullet pings off the edge of the target, and Seven curses. Nothing’s warping or levitating yet, which means her powers are still under her control, but Five still decides to try and get her attention. There’s no point letting her upset fester, for the safety of himself and everyone at the Academy, but also for her sake. Seven tends to get down on herself about things like this, and Five doesn’t like it when anyone but himself is mean to his favorite sibling. 

The question, then, is how to distract her. He knows from experience that she’s got the music on her headphones turned up to the max, so shouting at her will be entirely ineffective. Tapping her on the shoulder when she’s in the zone like this will get him seriously maimed, at best. Taking the headphones off will lead to more pain. 

There’s only one option, which, while he isn’t thrilled about it, isn’t so bad. 

He _jumps,_ a tiny thing compared to the training he’s been doing, and moves himself from the doorway of the range to the middle of the target zone, slicing through the fabric of time like a needle. 

Seven yelps when he pops into existence in front of her target. 

“Five!” she shouts, sounding horrified. She puts the gun down onto the table behind her, dipping her other hand into her pocket to turn her music down, though he’s sure it’s not off. Still, they’re well on their way to getting her to take the headphones off entirely. 

“Not happy to see me?” he teases, popping closer. 

“I could have killed you!” Seven seems genuinely upset. Five burrows his brow.

“Please,” he says, only half-joking. “From what I saw you couldn’t have hit me if you tried.” Seven glares, but there’s a softness behind her eyes, so clearly affectionate that Five has to tear his eyes away. 

The hardest thing about time travel is trying to get used to the rules of this new life.

Affection between the seven wards of the Commission isn’t prohibited; in some ways, it’s encouraged. But children learn from example, and what all seven of them learned from the other Agents that came in and out of their lives--including their father figure, Hazel--was that emotion was weakness. Sure, their teamwork and camaraderie were beneficial to both themselves and the Commission, but there was a line in the sand they had learned not to cross. Five found himself crossing it constantly, especially with Seven and Six. 

“I’m sorry,” Five settles for, and when he looks back up Seven’s gaze is reassuringly calm.

“It’s okay,” she says, softly. “You’re not wrong. I’m rubbish at this.” Five smiles at the word rubbish; Seven and Six, as part of their very exclusive book club, have been reading a lot of British Lit lately, and they’ve picked up on some of the vernacular. 

“What are you doing here, anyway?” As far as Five’s aware, shooting things has never been a part of Seven’s training. Why should she need it, when she’s so powerful? Five’s seen her stop bullets in midair and flip them around; why should she bother with shooting them? Seven shrugs. 

“You all can do it.”

“None of the rest of us have the power to explode the moon, though,” Five points out, a rare nod to their original timeline. This extent of her powers is fully theoretical to the rest of the team, as far as Five knows, though every now and then Hazel mumbles something about the seven of them and the moon and god knows what else. It was the same cryptic bullshit he used whenever they asked why the Commission hadn’t taken any of the other kids born the same day as them, something about “chemistry” and “canon” and “the seven being enough of you as it is.” They had learned long ago that it was worthless to press him on it. 

Seven doesn’t like his answer, he can tell. He teleports once more, until he’s right by her side, and grabs her hand, squeezing three times. Seven’s thing with touch is sort of like her thing with sound, she takes it in differently than everyone else. It’s all just _more_ for her. 

“I don’t like to feel left out,” she admits. Five squeezes her hand again, as if to say _I know._ “I know it’s stupid.”

“Well, I still don’t think you need it,” he tells her, “but I’d be happy to offer some pointers. I’ve had a lot of practice with weaponry.” Seven grins, picking up the gun again. Five moves slowly, wrapping his arms around her from the back and helping her adjust her aim. It’s sort of like doing more training with his free time, but he doesn’t actually mind; the activity combines Seven, guns, and showing off, which are three of his favorite things in the universe. He talks her through it, and by the time the dinner bell is ringing, Seven hits within the three center rings almost every time. 

“Was that the bell?” Seven asks, touching the side of her headphones abscently, leaning back into his arms. 

“Yeah.” Five feels himself blushing, so he keeps his gaze fixed on the ground. Seven is the one to reach for his hand this time. Her hand is small and calloused from playing her violin, and touching her makes him feel safer, no matter the universe. Seven pulls the headphones from her ears and pulls Five into a hug. It’s the ultimate sign of trust from her, and Five melts.

“Thank you, Five.” Her voice is softer when her headphones are off, almost inaudible. 

“Course, Vanya.” The name falls from his tongue without thinking, but it makes Seven smile blindingly at him when she pulls back. 

“I like it when you call me that,” she admits, and he can’t help but to press a kiss to her temple. 

“Then I’ll keep doing it.” 

“Seven! Five! Dinner!” A voice--One’s, he thinks--calls from the hallway. Seven flinches at the sudden loud noise and pulls her headphones back on.

“Coming!” She shouts back, tugging at Five’s hand until he follows her to the dining room. 

**7 is part of the umbrella academy au**

“Van!” Allison says, waving to Vanya as she enters the dining room with Five. She’s clutching at his shirt sleeve; she knows she’s been clingy and insufferable all day. “Come sit!” Allison gestures at the chair next to her, the one where Luther usually sits. Surely she doesn’t mean…?

“Go,” Five mutters, nudging her side. “We’ll talk after.” Vanya parts from him, sliding into the chair that rightfully belongs (at least in her mind) to One. Apparently, in this universe, the Hargreeves children are somewhat more flexible about their seating arrangements. Vanya chats quietly with Allison about their training that day as she waits for the others to arrive (or, more accurately, she sits and listens as Allison talks, trying to focus without activating her powers). Five sits across from her. Ben and Klaus come in together, arguing good naturedly, and sit in the two chairs next to Allison. Diego walks in next, tossing a knife up and down. 

“Yo, V, B,” he says, cutting into their conversations. “Q-quick band practice after dinner?”

“S-sure,” Vanya replies, cutting a quick look over at Five. He quirks the corner of his mouth in encouragement. 

“Hell yeah,” Ben says. 

Luther walks in at that moment, and Vanya tenses, waiting to be chewed out or even physically moved. Instead, Luther plops goodnaturedly into the last remaining seat and immediately gets into a squabble with Klaus about whose glass is whose. 

“Good evening, children,” Reginald Hargreeves--Father, her mind still can’t help but think of him as--says as he enters the room. The conversation ceases instantly. Father nods at Pogo, who turns on the latest dinner audiobook about rock climbing, and then at Mom, who begins to serve the food. 

Vanya eats in silence along with her siblings, but she can’t help but get drawn up into her head. This universe clashes so completely with her original timeline that she’s still not used to it. This Vanya has clear memories of growing up with her powers, training and fighting alongside her siblings, a true and much beloved member of the Umbrella Academy. 

She can’t help but be endlessly amazed by the changes between the timelines. Growing up with powers has changed a lot about their family dynamics, and her self-image in particular; a change only she and Five are even conscious of. Obviously, she no longer has to deal with the endless othering, loneliness, and feelings of inferiority. And, because they’re no longer imitating Father’s clear preferences, all of the siblings like and support each other more. They’re better superheroes here, and better friends. And they’re slightly less fucked up. 

Plus, with all seven of them united, they appear to have worn Father down somewhat. 

Case in point: Allison resumes her conversation with Vanya, in more hushed tones, and Father simply ignores it. Across the table, Diego drums on his plate with his fingers, tossing a wink her way. Ben’s book is open right on the table. Luther and Klaus whisper together about their plans to get high in Luther’s room after dinner; Vanya still worries about Klaus’ addictive tendencies, but in this ‘verse, he and Luther seem to balance each other out. Five, across the table, eats calmly, only glancing up now and then to catch her eye. 

He picks up his knife to cut his steak, and that’s all he does with it. She doesn’t realize how relieved that makes her until dinner ends. Father puts down his fork, Pogo turns off the music, and Mom begins clearing the table. Five relinquishes his plate and utensils, and Vanya relaxes against her seat. 

“Not done!” Klaus yelps, grabbing the rest of his roll before Mom can take his plate away. 

“Number Four,” Father says, warningly. Klaus shoves the rest of the roll in his mouth, which makes Ben and Allison laugh. The siblings start to disappear, quickly dispersing for their hour or so of time to roam the house before they are confined to their rooms for the night. Klaus and Luther head upstairs, Allison follows Father to his study (whether she’s been called for training or is going to convince Father to let them do something or go somewhere Vanya can’t tell), and Diego and Ben head for the basement, where they like to have band practice. 

“Be right there,” Vanya says, hanging back until it’s just her and Five left. He hasn’t teleported away yet, which either means he also wants to have the conversation she wants to have, or he genuinely doesn’t remember. 

“Your performance in training was down 18% today,” Five informs her, smirking slightly. Vanya knows the statistic must be accurate, though him telling it to her is meant to tease, to poke at the soft spots in her armour. “Is something bothering you?”

“This is the day,” she reminds him, softly. “In our timeline, this was the day you...left. Jumped. Time-traveled.” Five’s eyes go wide. She’s surprised he doesn’t remember; Five gets kind of fanatical about time. 

“I didn’t even think of that,” he says. “Well, I’m obviously not going to make that mistake this time.”

“It might not lead to the apocalypse,” she says, the words spilling from the darkest recess of her brain unbidden. “I mean, this time it could really work. You know how to time travel, for real. You could get out of here whenever you want. There’s nothing holding you back.”

“Don’t be so stupid,” Five tells her, bluntly, angrily. She recoils slightly. “I’m not leaving you here. I wouldn’t go anywhere without you.”

“Oh.” Her voice is soft and wondrous, even to herself. “Good.” Five’s face does something complicated she doesn’t understand.

“ _We_ could leave though,” he suggests. “If you want.” The thought makes her feel gooey.

“With everyone?” Five shrugs.

“Definitely Ben, if he wants to come,” he agrees. “And the others, I guess. If you want.” Vanya leans over quickly to peck him on the cheek. 

“I should go practice,” she remembers, thinking of Ben and Diego waiting for her downstairs. Without her, they’ve either written a beautiful song or completely destroyed her music room. 

“Can I come watch?” Five asks. It’s a real request: he really wants to do it, and he won’t come if she says no. 

“That would make me really happy,” she tells him. He follows her down to the basement, where Diego sits behind his drum kit and Ben is tooling around on the keyboard. Vanya makes her way to her bass guitar, finding comfort in the feeling of it’s sturdy body against hers. The Violin will always be her first love, but the bass helps her express herself in a different way. Five ignores the multiple bean bags and chairs scattered through the music room and sits with his back to the wall, in the perfect place to keep his eye on the door and Vanya at the same time. Old habits die hard. 

“Ready, V?” Diego asks, twirling his drumsticks between his fingers. “We wanna start with Anywhere But Here.” Vanya runs her hands along one of the strings with a smile, and starts the intro without another word. Diego and Ben smile and follow her lead, and for a while they just jam. She lets herself get lost in the music (though not so lost that she causes anything to explode). 

Suddenly, a beautiful, melodious voice joins Diego’s gruffer one. Vanya looks up and sees Allison, Luther, and Klaus standing in the doorway; Allison’s singing, while Klaus dances and Luther sways on his feet. She makes eye contact with Allison for a second, which Allison takes as all the encouragement she needs to come all the way in. The boys follow her. Vanya’s hands fumble on the neck of her bass, but her mouth stretches into a smile. She literally can’t remember having this much fun with her siblings even once in her original timeline; here, this is a regular occurance. 

Her siblings quickly turn the practice into a sort of houseparty. Klaus starts to twirl until he nearly bumps into Ben’s shoulder, Diego sings louder and drums harder, and Allison and Luther start to dance together. 

“Dance, Five!” Vanya surprises herself by encouraging. Five frowns dramatically, but the other siblings have taken her words as a pass to collectively bully Five into dancing. Ben and Klaus shout at him, but it’s Luther who grabs him and pulls him to his feet. He teleports away, then reappears standing closer to Vanya. She smiles at him, and he rolls his eyes. Then he begins to bop, painfully stiffly, to the music. Vanya lets her head fall back in a laugh, and improvises a riff on her bass, which makes Diego whistle appreciatively. 

It’s fucking awesome. 

“That’s enough!” A voice interrupts, and the music and levity grind to a halt. Father stands in the doorway, looking as disapproving and soulless as ever. “It’s time to retire to your rooms, children.” There’s a ripple of displeasure through the room, but no open challenges. Vanya sets down her bass in its stand, then follows her siblings up the stairs. The normal evening flurry takes up another half-hour, but the end of the hour finds Vanya in bed with her latest book (on loan from Ben) and the ghost of a smile still on her face. There’s only one more thing she needs…

As if on cue, Five pops into the room. They used to do this sporadically, back in their original timeline; now they do it every night. It’s just nice to have someone to hold. Five crawls under her covers, and she scoots over a little bit to give him more room. She sets the book down on the nightstand and flicks out the light, snuggling down next to Five, who throws his arm around her waist. 

“That was nice, tonight,” she says. 

“It was okay,” Five agrees, which is practically a rave review from her grumpy best friend. He’s quiet for a while, and Vanya’s sure he’s just not in the mood to talk until his hand finds hers. “We should definitely take everyone. When we leave.” 

“If you want,” Vanya teases, softly, squeezing his hand. She can practically hear him rolling his eyes in the dark, but he squeezes back and settles in to really fall asleep. Vanya finds herself following him to dreamland, music still ringing in her ears, and a plan forming in the back of her mind. 

**mob au**

Five sits next to One at the head of the table, bored to bits, as the meeting drones on. New recruits this, cover ups that. This is why he and One split leadership roles, and why it works; though they both know Reginald wouldn’t have approved. One actually likes this part of the meeting, he’s methodical and dedicated, with a brain perfectly suited to dealing with stupid, logistical crap. All Five cares about is the part where they talk about their next targets, and then the part after that, when they’ll eat Chinese and shoot the shit. 

It’s Kraken’s turn to report, and he dutifully relays his updates about his network of dirty cops before launching into an anecdote on the latest total unplanned robbery he almost got stabbed while committing. 

“How’s Patch?” Seance interrupts, leaning back further so he can put his feet up on the table. His eyes sparkle with mirth as he does the conversational equivalent of sticking a fork in an electrical socket, clearly as bored as Five in the wake of his own report on the mob’s flourishing drug operations. The knife whizzes past his ear as if on cue. 

“Say her name one more fucking time--” Kraken warns, even as Rumor lays a restraining hand on his shoulder. Seance holds up his hands in surrender, though his smirk makes it clear that he’s not actually sorry at all. Next to him, Horror buries his face in his hands. 

“Okay,” One interjects, sounding tired. “That’s enough. Anything else we need to know, Diego?” Kraken frowns at the use of his real name, but he doesn’t push it. They’ve all learned that refusing to call them by their “made up names” is a hill One will die on, despite his willingness to go by the numbers Reginald gave them. After a moment, Kraken shakes his head. “Okay,” One continues, “Anyone else? Ben? V?”

Violin stirs for the first time since the meeting began, drawing her knees up to her lithe frame. Her hair sways lightly, exposing the black wire of her earbuds. She shrugs, and there’s something almost musical in the movement. 

“I dunno,” she says in a quiet voice that demands to be listened to. “Five?” Violin has had a much harder time adjusting to this new timeline than Five. He’s never been overly concerned with ethics or morality, and a universe where his siblings are safe and powerful and similarly ruthless sits well with him. They aren’t technically siblings here, just the most promising (and powerful recruits) of late mob boss Reginald Hargreeves. Still, they’re very close, closer than in the original timeline, and they look out for each other. He’s sure they’ve all noticed the slight change in Violin, the abatement of her bloodthirstiness and her reliance on Five. Luckily, in this ‘verse, much like any other, he and Seven come as a matched set, a pair capable of being each other’s strength when one feels weak. 

“Team assassin had a good week,” he says, leaning forward and claiming the room’s attention for himself as he reports, before jumping into his ideas for the next targets. Only Rumor is undistracted as he pulls out his printouts of his suggestions, which makes sense; Three has always had a soft spot for Seven. Violin picks up one of the images he tosses onto the table with careful, clever fingers, and Five smirks. They’ve found their next target. 

“Okay,” Seance says, once they’ve finished. “We’re done, right? Cause Dave is right outside with the food.” Everyone perks up at the mention of dinner, and of Dave, one of the few non-original gang members they’ve all come to love in equal measure. 

“Bring him in!” Rumor decrees, and One doesn’t argue; he’s always had a soft spot for Three. The night devolves from a formal mobster meeting to a pseudo-family catch-up over dinner. Five’s enjoying himself, until he notices that Violin’s only picking at her food. He’s kind of got a thing about undereating after his time in the apocalypse, and the only thing that scares him more than himself not having enough food is V not having enough food. He shovels the remainder of the fried rice onto her plate, ignoring Horror’s outcry, and reaches over to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. 

“Okay?” Violin doesn’t quite look him in the eye. 

“Okay,” she says. She taps three times on his leg, their signal for _later._ He nods, and kisses her cheek before nudging her plate closer to her. That’s another thing he likes about this ‘verse: he and V can be just as openly affectionate as they want, and no one will give them shit. He even catches an approving glance from Rumor across the table.

One got to keep the mansion, so he (or, more likely, his men) are left to clean up after them as they all depart. The others leave for their respective homes through the front door; but Five, Violin, and Kraken take the other route, climbing up the fire escape and onto the roof. The three of them are far more comfortable traveling in the cover of darkness, above the rest of the city. 

“I’ll do a quick sweep and then I’m turning in, but I’ll talk to you in the morning,” Kraken says. “Are you two hunting now or then?”

“We’ll go out tomor--” Five starts to say, but Violin interrupts, low but insistent. 

“Now.” 

“Now,” he agrees. 

“Cool,” Kraken says, already turning to leave. “I’ll make sure my guys are the ones that find it. Night.” 

“Diego,” Violin says, softly. “Say hi to Patch for us.” Kraken pauses, the corner of his mouth flickering up. The assassins of the team have an extra strong bond, and Kraken also has a soft spot for V. 

“I will,” he says. “See ya.” He takes a running leap at the next roof, then the next, and then he’s gone. 

“Why now?” Five asks Violin, but she’s already turned on her heel and is stalking off in the opposite direction. He hurries after her, eventually taking over to lead them to the latest target’s home. It’s not a time sensitive matter, but V moves with urgency, removing the small tuning fork from her pocket and crouching down in a position that is ideal for Five to take a shot. He joins her, sees their target and some woman watching TV through their living room window. 

“The woman he’s with?” 

“Unimportant either way,” Five says, hesitantly. “V, are you okay? We don’t need to do this now--”

“Which one do you want?” V asks, and he can tell she’s ignoring him on purpose, not because she can’t hear him. “I’ll take the woman if you’re squeamish.” It’s a taunt. He doesn’t rise to it. 

“V--” 

“Five,” she says, voice strangled. “I want this.” He blinks, once, a show of confusion. Violin growls. “I’ve been trying to make it go away, but I feel--” She takes a deep breath, grounding. “When I’m off my meds, it’s like I’m torn between the light part of me and the dark part. But here, I’ve already given into the dark and I…I’m ashamed of how much I like it. But I’m just so _angry_ and it’s so easy.” Five can’t help himself, he digs his fingers into her waist as he hauls her into a hug. He’s never felt so understood in his life. 

V’s eyes flash full of light when he pulls back, and he can feel the tremors under her skin as she fights to keep herself under control. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles, stepping away. V follows his movement, grabbing at the front of his shirt. 

“Don’t be.” It’s a command. Five smiles, and kisses the top of her head. 

“This world is different than ours,” he tells her. “Darker. It’s okay if we are too.” He takes another breath. “It’s okay to be selfish, V.” She smiles, eyes still gleaming, something mischievous in her face. 

“Then I’m taking them both,” she says. Counterintuitively, she tucks herself closer to his chest, closes her eyes, focuses on the music playing in her headphones. A blast of energy shoots out of her, so bright he wonders if the whole city can see it. He closes his eyes, instinctively, and wonders if they’re gonna need Rumor to cover this up, to explain it away, somehow. 

When he opens his eyes, he and Vanya are floating up above the city, still clutching at each other. 

If he cranes his neck, he can see both of their targets, bleeding out all over their living room. 

“You’re the most incredible woman in the universe,” Five informs her. 

“Take me home,” Violin commands. Five envelops them both in glowing blue, and follows her order.

**apocalypse au**

This is the second apocalypse Five’s lived through, at least as far as he remembers, and he has to say, he far prefers this one. In the last apocalypse, the whole fucking world was a mess, and he was alone. Here, in the wake of the Great Plague, most of the world is left standing, and somewhere around 5% of the world’s population appears to have survived. Luckily, among those 5% are Five, Vanya, Ben, Klaus, Allison, Diego, and Luther. Oh, and Mom, because she’s an indestructible robot. Five’s sure he and the others are throwing off the world’s statistics, but apparently whatever genetic anomoly gifted them with special powers also made them immune to this stupid virus. 

“I bet it’s one of Dad’s lab experiments gone wrong,” Ben hypothesizes. He’s dragging one of the carts they scavenged behind him, this one full of books he’s picked up from various libraries they’ve passed by. Luther thinks it’s a waste of their limited storage space, but Five knows just how bored one can get at the end of the world and defends Ben with exuberance. 

“Shut up, Six,” Luther snaps, still caught up in the thrall of their Father. He’s carrying Mom on his back, so she doesn’t have to walk; they’re all worried she’ll run out of charge before they can find some way to channel electricity to her. 

“Don’t tell Ben to shut up,” Diego snaps back. He’s the most on edge about Mom, and hasn’t left Luther’s side for days in order to keep an eye on her; the two of them have been squabbling almost constantly. 

“Don’t tell me who I can tell to shut up.” 

“Boys--” Grace tries to interject. 

“Both of you should shut up!” Allison chimes in, much louder than Mom, and the front of their group devolves into a walking shouting match. Klaus starts shouting too, just incoherent noises to add to the cacophony, because Klaus is an agent of chaos. 

“Christ,” Ben, the unintentional cause of the fighting, mutters to himself. He brings his hands up to cover his ears, and, when Five glances down in confusion, he sees that Ben is using one of The Horror’s tentacles to pull his cart. His brain fritzes out for a second. 

“Maybe I prefer the first apocalypse after all,” he mutters to himself. 

“Oh, come on,” Vanya says softly, slipping her hand into his and intertwining his fingers with hers. “You don’t mean that.” Five rolls his eyes, but he nudges her shoulder gently with his own, meaning _you’re right._

“You’re right,” he says out loud, because Vanya deserves to hear nice things. Klaus shouts something particularly loud (and amusingly vulgar), and Vanya flinches, clutching tighter to his hand. “Everything’s okay,” he soothes. “Did you...did you take your pill yet?” Vanya has the small bottle of Reginald’s nightmare pills with her, and despite having the memories of their other timelines, and thus her powers, they agreed together that it made sense for her to keep taking them until they found somewhere safe. Or until the pills ran out. Their family is loud and annoying, and things are tense enough as they are. They don’t want to have to have _that_ conversation until they have to. 

“I’m okay, Five,” Vanya replies. It’s not a yes or no answer, but he doesn’t pry. As protective as he is over her, Vanya’s a big girl, and she can take care of herself. Still…

“Want me to carry your violin?” He’s dragging one of their other carts--food, water, one of their tents--behind him with ease, while Vanya seems to be struggling under the weight of her big backpack (containing most of their spare clothing) and her violin case. 

“I’m okay,” she says again. “I don’t wanna let go of your hand.” Oh. Okay then. That’s nice to hear. Unfortunately, Ben appears to have been eavesdropping. 

“Awww,” he teases, making kissy faces at them. “You two are adorable.”

“I will gut you,” Five snaps, at the same time that Vanya says:

“No, you’re adorable.”

“Oh my god,” Klaus says, apparently also tuning into their conversation. “How characteristic was that?” 

“That was Five and Vanya in a nutshell,” Allison agrees. 

“Aw, check it out,” Diego says, sounding genuinely gleeful. “They’re holding hands.” 

“Leave them alone, Two.”

“Maybe he just wishes he had someone to hold his hand,” Five suggests, deciding to be smug instead of embarrassed. 

“Aw, Two, I’ll hold your hand,” Klaus teases. Five snorts, but when he turns around to check on his family he sees that Diego has, actually, accepted the offer. Klaus is skipping, while Diego’s doing his best Batman impression, but it’s adorable nonetheless. 

“I wanna hold hands too,” Allison pouts, and everyone waits for Luther to take a goddamn hint. Nada. He clearly wants to volunteer, but instead he just readjusts his hold on Mom and soldiers on. “I’ll hold hands with Benny,” Allison decrees, flouncing forward to grab Six’s hand, also ignoring the tentacle. 

Five glances over at Vanya, and isn’t surprised to see the bubbling affection in his chest mirrored so obviously on her face. Their family is at its best like this, under duress and united for a common cause. 

“Darlings,” Grace lilts. “My internal clock tells me that we only have 24.6 minutes until sunset. I think we ought to set up camp somewhere close by and begin dinner.”

“Good call, Mom,” Diego agrees at once. Luther grumbles something about being the decision maker, but everyone ignores him. They find a nice abandoned house, mercifully corpse-less, and set up camp in its living room. Allison, Vanya, and Klaus head off to search the house for food and other supplies they could use more of (another blanket for Ben, more underwear for Luther, flashlights, batteries) while Diego helps Mom get comfortable. Luther heads outside to dig a bathroom (gross, but needs must). Which leaves Ben and Five on dinner duty, which, really, is the best job. All they have to do is decide what cans of preserved food they’re going to eat that night. Ben grabs a can of tuna fish, while Five selects green beans. 

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, earlier,” Ben says as they sit with the cans in their laps, waiting for the others. Oh no. Feelings talk. Five misses the first apocalypse again, and Vanya isn’t here to remind him why he doesn’t. 

“It’s fine,” he says, stiffly. 

“You guys really are cute,” Ben says earnestly, not getting the hint. “I like how happy you make Van.” Five feels himself flush red. 

“I...I don’t. It’s not. Ben--” 

“Jesus,” Ben teases. “Don’t get so emotional, Fivers.” Five decides it’s time for a new activity. Tossing his can over to Ben, he grabs the small radio from his wagon and begins to twist and twist the dial until (finally!) he hears the sound of his favorite station. 

“Hello, Survivors,” a voice hums down the line. “The Sanctuary is open to all survivors who can make it to New Boston. Join us in our utopia, where we live off the land and love is free. Join us, and start anew.” Five sees Ben relax at the mention of their destination, the Sanctuary. It’s a cult, at least a little bit, but Five’s okay with that. Knowing his family, they’ll probably be running the place after a week or so. They listen to the message repeat itself again and again until everyone’s back in the living room and ready for dinner. 

Luther uses their one can opener to open both cans (he’s a bit overprotective of the thing), and they pass the cans around in opposite directions, each taking a spoonful or forkful at a time. After dinner, they start the little singalong that’s quickly become part of their daily routine, and then Mom tells them one of the stories she has saved in her memory files. They’ve all heard it before, but it’s a good one anyway. Some nights, this is the part where Two and One compete to tell the scariest ghost story, a competition that Four wins everytime. Tonight, however, they all agree it’s time to sleep.

There’s plenty of rooms in the house, but they don’t really like being separated anymore, especially not in their sleep, and besides, none of them are accustomed to the softness of a bed these days. Still, Five still creates a private little nest in the corner for himself and Vanya, and graciously allows Ben to join them when he decides to sleep near them instead of Klaus for the night. 

In the dark, even though they’re curled together, Five finds himself grabbing Vanya’s hand again. He just...likes it. 

“You too, Ben,” Vanya insists, and Five isn’t quite sure what she means until he feels Ben’s hand hold his delicately. He grabs back. It was Vanya’s idea, not his, but he doesn’t half-ass anything, not even holding his brother’s hand. 

“Tell Ben what you think life’s gonna be like in the Sanctuary,” Five encourages in a whisper. He doesn’t actually need Ben to know, but this is his incredibly clever way of getting Vanya to tell him what’s become his favorite bedtime story without making it clear it’s for himself. Vanya’s squeezing of his hand lets him know his ruse hasn’t worked. Still, she starts into her description in her beautiful, hushed voice: 

“We’re going to live in a barn,” she starts, and Five’s eyelids begin to slide closed. “We’re going to have chickens, and every morning we’ll go out and collect their eggs…” 

Yes, Five thinks to himself, tucked between his two favorite people and being lulled with a bedtime story, he much prefers this apocalypse. 

**babysitters club au**

“This is the babysitters club, Luther speaking.” Luther’s sitting in Klaus’ chair like it’s a throne, legs thrown over one of the arms. 12 year old Luther’s pompousness reminds Vanya of Luther in the prime timeline, which makes her laugh. She turns to Five, wondering if he’s thinking the same, but Five’s busy digging under Klaus’ bed for one of the bags of Halloween candy everyone knows he “hides” under there. He emerges with two Twix, passing one to Vanya and shoving the entirety of the other one into his mouth. Ben and Klaus start to laugh as Five starts to choke, as Vanya thumps her best friend on the back and nibbles delicately at the edge of her own candy bar. 

“Hi Ms. Pike...Friday night, six to ten,” Luther says, repeating whoever is on the other line. “We’ll get right back to you, please hold...Ben, bro, who’s good?”

“This Friday?” Ben asks. “Two sitters for the Pikes, right?” Vanya shudders at the thought of anyone babysitting all eight of the Pike kids by themselves. Ben’s brow furrows as he looks down at the books. Then his face brightens. “Vanya and Five are free!” Vanya feels Five start to choke even harder under her hand and gears start to turn in her head. 

This timeline is incredibly...chill. Which, counterintuitively, seems to stem from the fact that, in this verse, everyone has powers, much like their own. Their births were still strange, but not unprecedented. Here, Reginald had no reason to assemble the Umbrella Academy, so they had all stayed with their families or had been adopted by other families. Vanya figured there were many universes like this, but this must be one of the few (or only) where they all ended up together, living in the same neighborhood in the quiet town of Stonybrook, Connecticut. And, somehow, they had still banded together, Luther had declared himself their leader (their president), and they had formed a babysitting club. Their lives are fairly normal, and filled with adorable little kids who love them.

Except that lately, Five’s been shirking babysitting jobs, pretending to have homework or doctor’s appointments. She’s not sure why, but she is sure that sitting for the Pikes together will be a good way to get back into the swing of things. 

“We’ll do it,” she decides, ignoring Five’s glare. “Let them know, Luther.” 

“Cool,” Luther says, aggressively not understanding the importance of the moment. He finishes his call and glances at his watch. “It’s 6:32, which means that this meeting of the babysitter’s club is officially at its close. Anyone have any last minute ideas?”

“I do,” Diego, who is Vanya’s adopted brother here (still) pipes up. “I propose that Five _share the damn candy.”_ Allison plucks the bag out of Five’s hand, ignoring him as he gives them all the finger, and the entire club dedicates themselves to spoiling their dinner with candy. 

“Why did you do that?” Five whines later, mind still on the job for the Pikes, lingering on Vanya’s (and Diego’s) front porch, hand still holding hers even though he’s about as mad as he gets at her. Diego’s already disappeared inside, rolling his eyes at his sister's request for some time alone with Five. Vanya pulls one of her earbuds out of her own ear and passes it to Five, so they’re both hearing the same beautiful classical piece. 

“This is our life here,” she replies, as firmly as she can manage. “It’s nice. We’re gonna get used to it.”

“Or we could run away and join the circus,” Five suggests, hopefully. Still, Vanya knows she’s won. Five isn’t good at saying no to her. She pulls him into a hug, and he slips the earbud back into her ear. “Fine,” he grouses. “Send me the name of the song, please?” 

“Course,” Vanya says.

Friday comes quickly, like it knows how excited Vanya is for it. She and Diego head out for their sitting jobs at the same time, reuniting with Five outside of his house. 

“Call me if you need me,” Diego says seriously. “I’ll bring the Hogarts over if I need.”

“We’ll be fine,” Five snaps, pride beating his clear nerves. 

“Thanks, D,” Vanya says, kissing Diego’s cheek. “I’ll see you at home.” Diego hugs Vanya, sticks out his tongue at Five, and heads off for his “shortcut” to the far side of town. They watch him crawl through Luther’s family’s hedge with amusement. Vanya nudges Five. 

“We will be fine,” she reminds him calmly. “We’re already good at this.” 

Thirty minutes later finds Vanya hiding behind a couch with a nerf gun, playing her part in the Great Pike Nerf Gun fight of May. It’s one of the few activities that keeps all the Pike kids entertained; plus, she figured Five would like it. The kids are having fun, divided into teams and shooting each other in the face. It’s chaos, but controlled chaos. She giggles, peeking out from behind the couch to shoot at Vanessa, the Pike child that reminds her the most of herself. 

“I’m on your team!” Vanessa laments, going down dramatically on her knees. Her siblings laugh and/or shoot at her, and for a moment, the part of Vanya that’s still a small, lonely child wishes she had had this. Then she thinks of lunchtimes and club meetings with her siblings in this ‘verse, and her larger family of the Stonybrooke community, and just smiles. 

Five pops into place next to her, and nerf gun bullets shoot over their heads in response to the blue glow. A part of Vanya registers that at least one of them should probably have eyes on the kids. Most of her brain, however, is only concerned with Five, with the tenseness of his shoulders, the shaking of his hands, and, most of all, with the tears in his eyes.

“Five,” she breathes, dropping the gun in favor of reaching up for his face. Five jerks back, shooting her three times in the chest with his nerf gun. If it was real, she’d be dead by now. Five reels for a second and seems to snap back into reality, looking at her with shock, and then guilt. “What’s wrong?” Five shakes his head, burying his face in his hands. “Can I touch you?” Five shakes his head. “Need a minute?” He nods. “Okay.” One of the kids shouts something, which makes Five flinch. Vanya makes an executive decision. She stands up, holding up her hands in surrender. 

“Alright, Pikes! Dinner time! Double time to the kitchen, please!” The Pikes grumble, but start dropping their guns and scattering their pillow shields all over the floor. “ _After_ we clean up,” she corrects herself, and the kids start scrambling for the scattered foam bullets. She bends back down to speak to Five. “Are you okay if I--”

“Go,” Five grits out. 

“I can call Diego…”

“Don’t,” Five says. “I’ll be there in a minute. Go deal with the ruffians.” Vanya desperately wants to stay with him, but she has a responsibility to the kids. She hesitates for a long, anguished moment, during which Five refuses to look at her. Eventually she gets up and heads towards the kitchen. She didn’t have time to prepare dinner, so she begins assembling sandwiches for the kids, which they begin eating without complaint. After a few minutes, Five swoops in, grabbing one of her peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches without a word. Something deep inside of her is satisfied at the sight. 

The kids get a half hour of TV time after dinner (which Vanya might stretch to 45 minutes to cement her status as favorite sitter) during which Vanya cleans up after dinner and casts worried looks at Five, who sits in the corner of the TV room, drinking black coffee and laughing too loud at the cartoons. Vanya reads the kids a story, and finally, it’s time for bed. The oldest kids can take care of themselves, while the younger ones need more help. Most of them share rooms, which makes her feel momentarily lucky that in both this timeline and her prime timeline she’s always had her own bedroom. 

It’s harder to do by herself, but eventually the kids are all asleep, or at least pretending to be. 

She finds Five downstairs, still basking in the glow of the TV screen, which he’s now turned to silent. 

“Hey,” she says gently, trying not to startle him. He looks up, false bravado painted across his face. 

“Told you not to try to make me babysit,” he jokes humorlessly. Vanya sits next to him, careful not to touch, but he reaches for her hand anyway, pulling her closer. She takes it as permission to get as close as she wants, leaning her head against his. 

“Five…”

“Can we at least have some music if we’re gonna talk about feelings?” Vanya digs her phone and headphones out of her pocket, handing each of them a headphone and putting on some gentle classical. “Sorry I lost my shit back there.”

“Don’t apologize,” Vanya soothes. “You and me...we don’t have to apologize to each other. Was it the guns? I can understand how that might have brought back some rough memories.” Five shakes his head. 

“It wasn’t the gun. It was the kids. Just being around them...I...Vanya, I have so much blood on my hands--”

“I killed everyone on Earth,” Vanya reminds him. 

“That was one time,” Five says. “And it wasn’t on purpose. I killed people. I killed _kids._ I have the memories from this timeline, of taking care of the Pikes and the Newtons and everyone...but I have 50 years of memories of being a monster.”

“You’re not a monster, Five.” Suddenly, one hand is not enough. She takes Five’s other hand too, stares him straight in the eye. “You trust me, right?” 

“You’re the only one I trust,” Five replies, instantly. 

“Then trust me when I tell you this: you are a good person. You took good care of me, when we were young. You take good care of me here. You take good care of our family. And you’ll take good care of these kids too, as long as you want it.” Five swallows. For the second time in a day, she sees her best friend’s eyes well with tears. 

“Thank you.” There’s nothing more to say, after that, so they sit in the light of the TV screen, awash in violin music. Vanya holds Five’s hand and is so, so grateful that this universe, at least, is a little kinder to the boy she loves. 

“Es’cuse me? Miss Vanya? Mister Five?” Vanya and Five look up to see little Nicky Pike standing in the doorway, looking scared. 

“What’s wrong, bud?” Five asks, lifting to a kneeling position, letting the earbud fall out of her ear. 

“I hadda nightmare,” Nicky says. “And the nightlight’s not on.” Vanya curses her mistake, but Five’s standing, holding out his hand for Nicky to take. 

“Come on,” he says. “I’ll find the nightlight, and scare off all the monsters under your bed.”

“How?” Nicky asks, though he seems mollified by their concern. “You’re not very scary.” Five smiles. 

“How about I do my best?” Nicky considers the idea for a moment, then nods seriously.

“Okie dokie.” He lets Five take his hand and lead him upstairs. Five turns around on his way out and mouths _give me a few moments_ at Vanya. She waves him off, sticking the remaining headphone in her other ear. She doesn’t like to be alone, most of the time, but she thinks she can handle this: just her and her music, waiting for Five to come back. 

**night circus au**

Vanya gets her first break at 2 AM, and goes looking for Five right away. She wanders through the pathways of the circus, taking her time, even stopping to pick up a hot chocolate near the Bonfire on her way. She passes many patrons she remembers seeing in her show earlier that night, or even earlier in the week, but she’s not worried about being recognized. With her blue coat over her circus costume and her big headphones over her ears, no one is likely to place her as part of the black and white circus around her. 

Even though she’s grown up as part of the circus, having been adopted by the Ringleader instead of Reginals along with the other six, navigating its circular sprawl isn’t always easy. She makes a wrong turn somewhere around the acrobats’ tent and walks right into Klaus. 

“Ma chere!” Klaus cheers, sweeping her off her feet and into a hug. His black feather boa tickles her face. “How have you been?”

“Since I saw you this morning?” Vanya asks, rolling her eyes good naturedly. “Fine. Good crowd tonight.” 

“Lots of people,” Klaus agrees, and Vanya notices the shadow flit across his face. She’s never been good at comforting anyone but Five, but she does her best, slipping her arms around him and pulling him into a loose hug. “I’m alright,” Klaus says, sounding not alright. “Just need a break. Two gruesome murder victims in one night trying to communicate with their loved ones through me is...not my idea of a good time.” 

“Understandable,” Vanya mumbles. “Why don’t you take the rest of the night off? The circus will carry on without it’s seancer for the night.”

“Is seancer a word?” Klaus asks, staring off somewhere over her right shoulder. “I’m thinking no.” Vanya fixes him with a look. “Sorry. Good idea? Will you take off with me, though? I hate being alone.” Vanya knows. 

“I was actually thinking we could get everyone together for a little bit,” she says, shifting on the balls of her feet. She’s nervous, though she knows her family will be nothing short of supportive. “I have this new piece I’ve been working on that I wanted to show you all.” 

“Ooh!” Klaus says, already on board. “Can I be in charge of snacks?” 

“Who else could I even trust with such an important task,” she jokes, gently. It’s amazing how true she’s found the old saying _the more things change, the more they stay the same_ to be. “Will you stop by the Tank on your way back to my tent? I think both Diego and Ben are there tonight.”

“I will find them or die trying!” Klaus decrees, bidding her adieu with a dramatic cheek kiss. “Au revoir, mademoiselle!”

“Arrêtez de faire semblant de connaître le français!” She calls after him, turning on her heel, and trying to remember where they put the stupid acrobats’ tent when they set up the circus. She wishes her sense of direction wasn’t so poor. She considers heading for Allison’s tent (which she knows is around here...somewhere) first when Five pops into existence in front of her. He’s in his costume too, practically daring someone to notice and say something. 

“You have a new piece? How come Klaus gets to know before I do?” Vanya moves to shove him gently, grinning when he teleports just out of her way. 

“Have you been moving your whole tent?” She accuses him. “I’ve been looking for you.” Five smirks. 

“The audience loved it,” he brags. “I’m a genius.” He grabs her hot chocolate out of her hands, then makes a face. “There’s no caffeine in this. Are you trying to kill me?”

“Not hard enough,” Vanya deadpans. “Come on, I wanna find the others. I really think you’ll like it, but it won’t sound right unless you’re all there to hear it.” 

“We couldn’t have picked any timelines when it’s just us?” Five grouses, though he takes her hand and begins leading her in the direction of the strongmen’s tent. When they find him, Luther is in the middle of his act. Luther glances up to see the two of them in the entryway to his tent, and they both hold up seven fingers on their hands, keeping them up until they see Luther’s subtle nod. It’s the circus kids’ code to meet at Vanya’s tent. They find Allison next. Her tent is even more full than Luther’s, so much so that even the entry way is blocked by people. Five could teleport in, but they agreed long ago never to tamper with each other’s acts. So they wait, sitting against the side of the tent to listen in on Allison’s act. 

“I heard a rumor you all think you’re floating up out of your seats into the air...I heard a rumor you all think we’ve gone to outer space...I heard a rumor you all think you see a shooting star…” It’s an incredible act, and she doesn’t even need any props. If the circus advertised, she would be the face on every poster. Vanya feels a strange pride swell in her chest as she lets Five lay his head in her lap, grumbling about nothing. Shortly, Allison’s audience starts to file out of the tent, muttering to each other in amazement. Five pulls Vanya by the hand as they push against the crowd, pausing at the entryway of the tent to flip the sign under _Illusionist_ from _Open_ to _Out_. 

“Sup?” Allison asks, coming to greet them. She still has her stage smile on, but it’s relaxing into something more genuine. 

“V’s putting on an impromptu performance,” Five says, like it’s his idea. 

“Klaus is bringing the snacks,” Vanya adds, just to rile Five up. 

“I could bring the snacks,” he mumbles. Allison laughs, and throws her arm around Vanya’s free side. 

“Sounds great,” she says. “If the Ringmaster gives us crap, I’ll just rumor him into thinking he’s given us the night off.” 

“Brilliant,” Vanya says. She kisses Allison’s cheek, and revels in this new reality, where Allison’s rumor powers are for the good of them all. 

When they get back to Vanya’s tent, the rest of the boys have already assembled in her audience, making themselves comfortable. Luther sits on the lowest riser, as to not crush any of her chairs, and Allison parts from her at the entrance, tucking herself into Luther’s side. His arm comes up to rest delicately around her shoulders. Diego and Klaus are sitting at opposite ends of her second row, playing their favorite game, in which Diego expertly throws small pieces of candy (today, it’s gummy bears) into Klaus’ open mouth. Ben sits in the very center of her first row, toweling off his still wet hair, and waving at them both. 

“Go sit,” Vanya prompts, bumping Five’s hip with her own. Five goes, popping away from her side and landing practically on Ben’s lap. 

“Nice work, Five,” Luther teases, as Ben pulls Five into a headlock. Five pops away again, reappearing on Ben’s other side to return the favor. Diego begins pelting them both with the gummy bears. 

Amidst the chaos, Vanya picks up her violin and bow, shifting anxiously in front of her family. She’s never gotten much better at the preformative aspect of her job, even as she’s mastered the music and the...special effects. Catching onto her nerves, Five starts to clap. Immediately, the rest of her family joins in, each competing to be the loudest and most obnoxious. 

“Thank you,” she says, softly, and the applause stops. “Thank you all for coming.”

“Of course, sweetie,” Allison chirps, playing her part of mom-friend. 

“What’s the occasion?” Luther asks awkwardly, also playing his part, the less glamorous emotionally stunted dad friend. 

“I’ve been working on this new song,” Vanya explains. “Ever since--” She makes eye contact with Five, who shakes his head, just slightly. Vanya thinks he’s probably right; there’s no use ruining her impromptu recital with an account of how her new memories have interacted with the elements of her power she’s adapted in this ‘verse. “I dunno. Anyway, the point is, I think I wrote it for you. I was thinking of you, at least.”

“Aww,” Allison, Ben, and Klaus coo in unison. Diego and Luther both smile into their laps, and Five just smirks in her direction. 

“It’s nothing fancy,” Vanya says. “It’s just…” She takes a deep breath, and sets her violin under her chin. “You’ll see.” She sets the bow to the strings, and the music begins to flow out of her. At first, her family sways along to the music, listening to the peaceful music; they smile but are unphased as the white light begins to flow out of her, and her family begins to levitate above their chairs. 

But they gasp when they see the new trick with her powers she’s unlocked: shadows of doorknobs on strings of light float in the sky, and a multiverse full of family memories flickers like a movie in the light around her. She’s not sure what they’re seeing, exactly, though she’s hopeful it’s just a supercut of their happiest moments in this timeline. 

Five, however, clearly sees what she sees. He smiles, looking every bit like the young boy he was when she first knew she loved him. She smiles back, and continues to play. For him. For herself. For her family. 

And the doors just keep opening. 

**Author's Note:**

> assassin au: This AU was born out of my intense love for Hazel—I think he’d be a good Dad/mentor/assassin-role-model for the Hargreeve kids. Another important feature of this AU is Vanya’s headphones: she has them in a bunch of the other ficlets, but they were meaningful to me as a symbol of how a competent parental figure would have been able to help Vanya deal with her powers (and the side effects, which I think of as the result of sensory overload) and as a symbol of trust between Vanya and Five. 
> 
> 7 is part of the umbrella academy au: I put on my rose colored glasses a little bit for this verse and decided that without Vanya as the clear “weakest link” in the house, the Hargreeves kids would be more united, including against their father. Vanya, Diego, and Ben’s band is a nod to my favorite part of comic’s lore, which is that Diego and Vanya were in a punk band together as kids, which we learn in the book anywhere But Here (which is also the name of the song they play in this ficlet). Five and Vanya sharing a bed comes from [this](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572361) adorable series. (Also, in my head, they all do end up running away together and they live happily ever after.)
> 
> mob au: This AU was entirely inspired by [this](https://birdmanlyss.tumblr.com/post/184333587390/i-send-the-swarm-i-send-the-horde-thus-saith-the). I’m a sucker for dark!aus. Also, Dave is there, because screw timelines. 
> 
> apocalypse au: Many of my favorite fics in this fandom feature Vanya (and sometimes also Ben) joining Five when he jumps to the future, and taking care of each other through the apocalypse. Following my own internal logic for this fic, that didn’t really make sense, plus I wanted to bring all the other siblings (and Mom!) along. This apocalypse is inspired by the one in Station Eleven, one of my favorite books. I want Ben to be allowed to make peace with “the Horror,” so cue some casual tentacle-having. I also included a little cult reference as a nod to my favorite season 2 theory, which is that Klaus ends up as a cult leader. 
> 
> babysitters’ club au: I’m aware that this is sort of an odd AU, but in the wake of the excellent Netflix adaptation of The Babysitters’ Club, books I adored as a kid, I kind of couldn’t help it. I wanted Five remembering how to be a person and dealing with kids especially. 
> 
> night circus au: Once I was fully letting myself write weird AUs, I kind of couldn’t help it. I’ve seen a few other circus AU fics in the fandom, but I wanted to make the setting the Night Circus specifically, after another favorite book of mine! The plot is pretty thin in this one, but I wanted to at least try to wrap it up neatly.


End file.
